The transition from Level 1 to Level 2 didn't come with the standard, agonizing bottleneck traditional cultivators faced. Instead, a warm, golden current washed through her tiny veins, smoothing out her fur and leaving her limbs feeling incredibly light.
[ Ding! Quest Completed: Take Your First Step. ]
[ Rewards Distributed: +100 System Points, 1x Low-Grade Qi Condensation Pill. ]
Ethan—who was rapidly realizing she needed to choose a new, female name soon—let out a soft fox-sigh of relief. She sat up on her hind legs, watching a faint swirl of white light vanish into her snow-white paws. With a thought, she opened her Inventory. A pristine grid appeared in her mind, and in the very first slot sat a tiny, glowing green marble.
The Qi Condensation Pill, she noted. If a regular cultivator saw this, they’d lock it in a jade box to keep the medicine from bleeding into the air. Here, it’s completely frozen in time.
But she wasn't ready to eat mysterious pills just yet. She was far more interested in how she was going to survive long-term. Her mental focus shifted, tapping on the third and final tab of her interface: the Evolution Shop.
A cascading menu of glowing text expanded before her eyes.
[ Evolution Shop — Current Level: 2 (Mortal Beast) ]
[ System Points (SP): 100 ]
The shop was cleanly divided into three distinct categories, and as a former tech employee, she immediately appreciated the clean UI layout.
## 🧬 Available Evolutions
* Three-Tailed Shadow Fox (Requires Level 10, 500 SP): A beast specializing in agility and stealth. Blends into darkness.
* Flaring Ember Fox (Requires Level 10, 500 SP): A beast born with an affinity for the Fire Element. High destructive power.
* Nine-Tailed Celestial Deity (LOCKED): Requirements unmet.
So the points don't just buy the form, they unlock it once I hit the level milestone, she reasoned. The paths ahead were incredibly exciting, but Level 10 was still far away. She scrolled down to the next two sections, which made her small fox ears twitch with surprise.
## 📜 Cultivation Techniques
Unlike the rigid manual systems of the Azure Cloud Continent, where disciples spent decades memorizing cryptic scrolls, the System allowed her to purchase and instantly integrate cultivation methods.
* Basic Qi Gathering Method (Cost: 50 SP): Increases passive Qi absorption rate by 20%.
* Nine Oceans Meridian Opening (Cost: 200 SP): Expands the host's spiritual pathways, allowing for dual-element cultivation.
* Immortal Sovereign Jade Core (Cost: 1,000 SP): Form a flawless core capable of resisting heavenly tribulations.
## ⚔️ Active & Passive Skills
* Inspect (Passive - Cost: 30 SP): View the level, realm, and basic attributes of targets within 50 meters.
* Fox Fire (Active - Cost: 50 SP): Conjure a small, localized spiritual flame. Damage scales with character level.
* Swift Step (Active - Cost: 40 SP): A brief burst of speed, leaving a faint afterimage. Costs 5 Qi per use.
"This changes everything," she thought, a sharp, distinctly human intelligence gleaming in her bright fox eyes.
Traditional cultivators had to rely on their sect's library or luck out in an ancient ruin to find good techniques. Even then, if a technique didn't match their natural spiritual root, they could explode their own meridians trying to learn it. For her? The System handled the biological compatibility completely.
She looked at her 100 System Points. Survival in a wild forest meant knowledge was just as important as firepower.
First, I need to know what's coming at me.
She mentally selected Inspect.
[ Ding! Purchased Passive Skill: Inspect. -30 SP. ]
With 70 points remaining, she looked at her offensive options. Relying purely on biting and scratching as a tiny fox sounded like a quick way to end up in a predator's stomach. She selected Fox Fire.
[ Ding! Purchased Active Skill: Fox Fire. -50 SP. ]
[ Remaining Balance: 20 System Points. ]
As the notifications faded, a strange sensation locked into her brain. She suddenly understood the exact mental "muscle" required to manifest a spark of spiritual flame.
To test it, she focused on a fallen, rotted log a few feet away. She activated her new passive skill first.
[ Target: Rotted Oak Log (Mortal Object) — Durability: 5/5 ]
It worked perfectly. Next, she willed a tiny fraction of the Qi she had just absorbed into her throat. She opened her small jaws, and a brilliant, eerie blue flame the size of a coin flickered to life, hovering just above her nose. With a sharp exhale, she launched it forward.
Poof.
The blue flame hit the log, instantly burning a clean, smoldering hole straight through the damp wood before dissipating.
A sharp rustle in the bushes behind her shattered her concentration. Her ears pinned back as a massive shadow stepped out into the moonlight. It was a wolf, easily three times her size, its eyes glowing with a feral, predatory hunger.
Instinctively, she locked her gaze onto the beast, activating her skill.
[ Target: Iron-Tusk Wolf (Mortal Beast - Level 4) — Status: Hostile ]